Son of Kal-El #11

Issue 11 of Superman: Son of Kal-El is called The Right Path, and it’s excellent.

Tom Taylor isn’t just a character-writer, he delivers action-packed stories as well, and this one is no exception. Our illustrator this time is Cian Tormey, and I wonder if our Irish boy appreciates the subtextual power his art has – but I digress.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

SoK#10 left off with Batman telling Jon he cannot trust Jay Nakamura – that’s a problem because our boy is dating him, so yeah…

Jon stands up to Batman and tells him what time it is. Jon takes off, and rightfully so. As always, Batman oversteps – he also forgets how his love interests have fucked with his ability to ‘super hero’ shit. Luckily, old man Kent reminds him to step the fuck back because he’s got a case of the hypocrites. 0__0

Naturally, Jon takes his boy problems to Nightwing because who wouldn’t, am I right?

After talking with Dick about his woes, Jon decides to speak with Jay – you know, like an adult.

I love how Tormey draws Jay Nakamura; his rendition is my favorite.

Jay explains his connection to the group that Bats thinks are whole-ass terrorists. There’s always a gray area, and Jon can appreciate that, even if Batman can not. Jay then informs Jon that all of the meta-humans from Gamorra have a destruction-device in their heads–including Lachlan, the fire thottie that Jon saved in Issue #1.

Jon freaks because he left fire-hottie with the Flash at the Hall of Justice.

Jon uses his x-ray vision to locate the device, and the Flash brings in Atom to take that shit out. Unfortunately, Bendix, the evil bastard behind all this bullshit, catches onto the Atom’s presence and takes control of Lachlan’s powers, hoping to force him into denoting himself–killing Atom, the Flash, and destroying the Hall of Justice.

Jon, as always, remains level-headed. He knows Lachlan’s not responsible for his actions, and once Atom is safely detached, he flies Lachlan into the stratosphere because, without air, fire cannot survive.

Again, I think Jon’s saving Lachlan is meant to be erotic because when artist John Timms depicted Lachlan’s first rescue in Issue #1 (see below) it was just as tender and passionate.

[photo evidence]

I suspect that that’s just damned good scripting, and it tells me that Tom Taylor knows his audience (college brains, old fujoshi, and the gays).

I’m digging this series and have from the beginning. If you’re not a western comics reader, wait till it comes out collected on Kindle – but either way, it’s good stuff.